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Highway collision in China kills at least 43

The Associated Press

Updated:
07/19/2014 11:56:33 PM EDT

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Firefighters and policemen work near a burnt-out bus and trucks after an explosion following a traffic accident on the expressway in Longhui county in south China's Hunan province Saturday July, 19, 2014. A truck loaded with flammable liquid collided with the bus on a highway in southern China on Saturday, killing more than dozens of people. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

BEIJING (AP) — The death toll from the southern China highway collision between a bus and a truck loaded with flammable liquid rose to 43 on Sunday.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency said the truck rear-ended the bus around 3 a.m. Saturday on the Hukun Expressway in Hunan province, with the truck's driver and passenger among the dead. Five people were also injured.

Xinhua said the flames destroyed a total of five vehicles before being extinguished five hours later.

Images broadcast on Chinese state television showed both vehicles severely burned and what appeared to be passenger belongings scattered on the road.